Moralia: Volume IV

by Plutarch, Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

Moralia, Volume IV: Roman Questions. Greek Questions. Greek and Roman Parallel Stories. On the Fortune of the Romans. On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander. Were the Athenians More Famous in War or in Wisdom?

Plutarch (c. 45 120 CE) wrote on many subjects. His extant works other than the Parallel Lives are varied, about sixty in number, and known as the Moralia (Moral Essays). They reflect his philosophy about living a good life, and provide a treasury of information concerning Greco-Roman society, traditions, ideals, ethics, and religion.

Genres: Philosophy

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 100

About the author

Plutarch (later named, upon becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus; AD 46–AD 120) was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. Plutarch's surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers.

Reviews

[شمس · Rating 3 out of 5]

His relaxation not idle . . .

. . . the mark of a man who possesses virtue, sense, and intelligence.
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It is the mark of a truly philosophic soul to be in love with wisdom and to admire wise men most of all, and this was more characteristic of Alexander than any other king. —On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander, 332d, 337e, 331e

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This volume contains the following essays:
• The Roman Questions
• The Greek Questions
• Greek and Roman Parallel Stories
• On the Fortune of the Romans
• On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander
• Were the Athenians More Famous in War or in Wisdom?
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In The Roman and Greek Questions, Plutarch poses questions and offers a variety of answers, à la Aristotle’s Problemata. The Roman questions are primarily concerned with Religious practices, and are an invaluable source for information on this topic.

Why do they bid the bride touch fire and water? Is it that of these two being reckoned as elements or first principles, fire is masculine and water feminine? (263e)

Why do men not marry during the month of May? Is it because this month comes between April and June, of which they regard April as sacred to Venus, and June as sacred to Juno, both of them divinities of marriage; and so they put the wedding a little earlier of wait until later? (284f)

The Greek questions deal more with historical customs and people.

As the name suggests, in Greek and Roman Parallel Stories, Plutarch offers stories where similar things have happened in both Greek and Roman times.

Aristonymus of Ephesus, the son of Demostratus, hated women and used to consort with an ass; and in due time the ass gave birth to a very beautiful maiden, Onoscelis by name. So Articoles in the second book of his Strange Events.
Fulvius Steles hated women and used to consort with a mare and in due time the mare gave birth to a beautiful girl and they named her Epona. She is the goddess that is concerned with the protection of horses. So Agesilaüs in the third book of his Italian History. (312d)

The final three “essays” are more epideictic orations, and read as if they were delivered to an audience in person, ending relatively abruptly.

A lesser offering (not entirely without value) lacking in the moral discussion which the title of the work promises.
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The Roman Questions
Why do they consider Saturn father of Truth? Is it that they think, as do certain philosophers, that Saturn (Kronos) is Time (Chronos), and Time discovers the truth? (266e)

They adorn the body thus since they cannot so adorn the soul. (270e)

The Romans used to be very suspicious of rubbing down with oil, and even today they believe that nothing has been so much to blame for the enslavement and effeminacy of the Greeks as their gymnasia and wrestling-schols, which engender much listless idleness and waste of time in their cities, as well as pederasty and the ruin of the bodies of young men . . . (274d)

Holidays distract most people, so that they have no leisure for such matters. (289b)
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Greek and Roman Parallel Stories
Polyzelus, having seen a supernatural vision, lost this sight, and became blind. (305c)

When he was dead, the barbarian king cut out his heart and found it covered with hair. (306e)

He attacked the enemy and lost all his men, but he himself, although mortally wounded, with a mad each reached Hannibsl and knocked down his crown, and so died with him. (Of Fabius Maximus, 306e)

When a plague had overspread Sparta, the god gave an oracle that it would cease if they sacrificed a noble maiden each year. Once when Helen had been chosen by lot and had been led forward adorned for the sacrifice, an eagle swooped down, snatched up the sword, carried it to the herds of cattle, and let it fall on a heifer; wherefore the Spartans refrained from the slaying of maidens. So Aristodemus in his Third Collection of Fables. (314c)

. . . he hurled himself into the Lycormas river and became immortal. (315e)
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On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander
Those who record that Alexander once said that the Iliad and the Odyssey accompanied him as equipment for his campaigns . . . (327f)

This virtue Alexander possessed, whom some accuse of drunkeness and a passion for wine! But he was truly a great man, for in his conduct of affairs he was sober, nor was he made drunk nor led to revelling by authority and power; but others, when they get but a small portion, or even a taste, of power, are unable to control themselves. (337f)

. . . the night that was too short for them at their dinners, and the day at their breakfasts. (338c)

[Alexander Rolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Greek and Roman Questions provide a lot of interesting details on all sorts of topics: religion, pronunciation, dogs, exercise, war, etc. The Parallel Stories are dumb and not written by Plutarch, mercifully. His speeches on Alexander the Great are fun and provide some information found nowhere else. Most of it is covered in his Life of Alexander, but these speeches give an interesting perspective on Alexander's conquests overall. I also really liked his speech on the Fame of the Athenians.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plutarch examines the customs of the Romans and Greeks. He starts each custom with a question and then provides some possible answers. For the Romans it is mostly about religious practices, which mostly gives us some idea of what those practices were. For the Greek it is mostly about the naming of things. Later he examines Roman history, and whether their accomplishments were made through virtue or through fortune. Then he examines the life of Alexander, and again whether he is the recipient of fortune or the result of virtue. Finally, the Greeks are subject to the same question.

Interesting in the revelation of the odd customs of the Romans. A good but often repetitive work.